Borderlands 4 Forgeknight Amon reminds me of my favorite build in the series

Gearbox has given us a new deep dive into Borderlands 4 Forgeknight Amon, and it's putting me in a very difficult position. I thought I had my starting class locked in, but Vex has some serious competition as the raucous bruiser gives me flashbacks to my favorite character in the series. Capable of choosing between a full offensive melee build, a hardy shield tank, or a cybernetic, elemental threat, Amon offers options to suit whatever play style you prefer in the upcoming FPS.

They didn't initially catch my eye, but I've been more impressed by the playable roster of Borderlands 4 characters the more I see of them. Raised in a cult that worshipped Vault monsters until one murdered everyone he loved, "warrior poet" Amon has a real sci-fi Viking vibe, bringing powerful melee abilities to complement his arsenal. The best FPS games respect the joy of getting up close and personal, and Amon brings that vibe to Borderlands 4 in style.

Like all four of the starting Vault Hunters, Amon boasts three separate skill trees: Calamity, Vengeance, and Cybernetics. Each comes with its own action skill and a separate 'Forgeskill.' To start, Calamity lets you wade into the thick of things, with kill skills that ramp your damage up and reward you for landing melee hits; you can even become briefly immune when you use your Forgeskill, Molten Slam, which unleashes powerful area-of-effect flames. Its action skill overloads his Forgefist, letting you zoom about with rocket punches that can dash to and stagger enemies.

The Calamity skill tree immediately calls to mind my all-time Borderlands comfort build. Back in the 2009 original, beefcake bruiser Brick was capable of becoming a virtually unkillable beast by stacking health, shield, and kill skills that dramatically raised his potency and defenses with every enemy you put in the ground. I've used it for probably five or more playthroughs and it remains a personal favorite to this day, so seeing it invoked by Amon's Calamity loadout has me itching to give the newcomer a try.

That's just one of three options, of course. The Vengeance tree allows you to stay safe with more defense, health regeneration, and a Forgeshield that absorbs all frontal damage. Everything it blocks charges his Vengeance meter, which can be spent to unleash a powerful Forgewave. His Forgeskill is Firewall, a barrier that both blocks enemy projectiles and buffs any friendly attacks that pass through it.

Finally, the Cybernetics tree is more for the gun-focused traditionalists, and lets you bolster your critical hits, reload speed, and elemental damage. Its action skill gives you three Forgeaxe charges that can be used to hurl flame or frost axes. These 'prime' any enemies hit, causing them to detonate when they die, or when they are damaged by a Forgeskill. Speaking of which, Amon's third Forgeskill is Double-Edge, and has him hurl a special twin Forgeaxe that deals Cryo damage on the way out, then returns to you unleashing Incendiary hits.

Once again, I find myself at a crossroads. My passion for Brick (and, to a slightly lesser extent, Krieg and the Wonderlands Brr-Zerker) has been reinvigorated by Amon, and he's enthusiastically wedging himself into my 'must-play' list. The simple answer is that I'll just have to try all four classes, and the presence of Borderlands 4 crossplay means I should be able to drum up enough playthroughs to justify it.

The Borderlands 4 release date is almost here, so get ready for September 12 by studying Amon's three skill trees, courtesy of Gearbox.

Be sure to check the Borderlands 4 system requirements now so that you're ready to go on day one, and take a look through our guide to the best graphics card for your budget in 2025 if you're in need of an upgrade.

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